Different Paths Meeting
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Leonhart makes a striking move to Kaiba Corporation but ends up regretting it the first few hours. Mokuba comes to the rescue.


Being the new arrival anywhere was hard. Leonhart had the privilege of being just that a few great times in his life. What he was facing now would prove to be the hardest form of being 'new' that he would ever know. The move was so daunting, in fact, that he stood outside the corporation building for so long a time that security started getting antsy. He knew they had ever right, but it still didn't make him feel very good.

Eventually he drew a deep enough breath, hefted his box of belongings up underneath his arm, and strode in through the doors. It was frustrating enough that he was stopped at the door, but also every other floor until he reached his own cubicle. If he hadn't had his pass he was sure he wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the premises at all. But what could he do?

He was sure that after that debacle at Grand Prix all those years ago a poster hung up in every office with him and his brother's faces that read 'Beware'. They had every right- sort of. And really he hadn't been sure what had happened when he'd been hired. Applying in after the breakdown with his brother had been as much a vitriolic act of rebellion as it had been a long lost hope. He really hadn't expected anything to happen.

And then they'd come back and allowed him in for a few interviews. None with Kaiba Seto himself, of course, but he almost thought he could feel his eyes from every camera hanging around in the building. After all the interviews and stressing eventually he got hired. He sure his brother had heard the news back in Germany already. He was lucky he'd taken himself off the grid beforehand otherwise he was sure Siegfried would have been blowing up his phone and storming on in.

It still all left him feeling terrified of doing even the slightest wrong thing, especially with the way the employees stared at him over the tops of their cubicles and as he moved about the hallways. Why had they bothered hiring him? He'd never fit in here. Maybe he should have quit and saved himself the embarrassment…

He was seriously contemplating it, having a little moment of anxiety in the bathroom. Only a few hours into his first day and he could see he wasn't welcomed here. Nobody forgot what had happened at the tournament. He was seen as an enemy. Was Kaiba playing him?

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder, causing him to yelp. Here it was. Kaiba here to destroy his life and laugh in his face for even being so stupid-

"Hey!"

Leonhart barely recognized the person behind the voice as he turned. Mokuba had grown very, very tall. Was he taller than his brother now? His face had sharpened slightly from the pudgy kid he remembered. The wild black mane still seemed to be in place, though tied back, with a curious blue streak down the right side. He couldn't have really expected Mokuba to look the same after ten years, even he didn't look quite the same. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing him here.

In fact… "I'd heard you were at the American base." Trying to excuse his suddenly pale demeanor after being spooked so thoroughly.

"I was for a little while but even my brother needs my help sometimes." A small chuckle. Leonhart could see why he'd been toted as a ladies man from this close now. He'd hardly believed it back home. "But don't tell him that."

Something about the way he was being inspected made this entire experience click. "… you convinced him to hire me, didn't you." Mokuba had always been nice. He was sure if it had just been on Kaiba's plate he would have been turned down, maybe even blacklisted from Japanese waters.

Mokuba's smile softened. "Found out, huh? It's not so bad. He didn't need too much convincing." Just a little bit of the old puppy dog eyes and a few promises that he needed him around. It wasn't that hard, not really. "Your resume did more convincing than I did. Especially with the new project coming up."

"Project- ah-" His tongue crushed against the back of his teeth as he realized what was happening. Mokuba was almost too welcoming. "I can speak Japanese if that's easier…" He really hadn't even realized the other was speaking to him in his mother tongue.

"Nah, that's fine. I know what being away from home is like. Speaking English makes me long for Japanese. I'm sure speaking Japanese will make you long for German." The ever accommodating. Mokuba and Kaiba were like day and night. So vastly different that Leonhart, like the rest of the world, wasn't even sure they were really related.

But he was grateful for it nonetheless. Even when he couldn't quite stop the scoff that came from him. "I doubt it."

The younger Kaiba frowned then for the first time. "You guys okay?" As far as he'd been concerned the Schroider brothers had been as close as he and Kaiba. Though the personal stories hadn't been quite the same, they loved each other. Hearing that there was some sort of blow up was what had initially caused Mokuba to look into that application.

He knew it was going to cause more trouble eventually, taking Leonhart for Kaiba Corporation. But even Kaiba couldn't resist how deliciously terrible it was after thinking about it. He had always been one for severely wounding strikes, after all.

Leonhart raised his hand to push back some of his dark pink hair. It came with a sigh and an almost guilty downcast of his eyes. He hadn't wanted to talk about it. With Mokuba it made him feel more on the spot. Mokuba would never abandon his brother no matter what had happened. Yet here he was… "It was too much." He admitted sadly. He was giving up. Giving up on his only elder brother.

Shouldn't Mokuba have been ashamed of him?

Instead he got another touch on his shoulder and a reassuring smile. "Things will turn out alright. Older brothers can get crazy sometimes. Trust me, I know."

This time though Leonhart tried to shrug him off. "You know but you'd never do what I did." Being here. It wasn't right. He was feeling sick about it now. It was wrong.

Mokuba refused to relent. "The media might have thought we were cut from the same ilk but that doesn't make it true. Your actions aren't something to beat yourself up over." He was sure of it. Leonhart was a good person. He had to have been. He'd stood up to his brother, after all, when things got tough. This was the same thing, wasn't it? "You don't have to justify them either." Not to anyone else.

He shuffled, unable to look up at the other, frowning still. The words sounded nice and he wanted to believe them. But it was hard. "I don't know…"

"You're here now. So you should make the best of it."

Another defeated sigh. "I'd like to but your employees don't seem to like me very much." If he hadn't felt like such an outcast he wouldn't have had such an anxiety attack over it in the first place. Not that that was Mokuba's fault. He realized the tone he had set on the other had been less than forgiving. "Sorry-"

"They're all under my brother's spell." A wink with a nudge towards the door. "Let me show you mine." With that he looped his arm around Leonhart's shoulder and strode right out the door.

Immediately everyone was taking notice, though in quite a different way. It was nice to get smiled at, even if it was because of Mokuba and not his own merits. But the way the women in the office were waving at him now made him feel a little more welcomed. He felt the small knot in his stomach start to unwind.

"Let's go out for dinner tonight. I'll show you the best places." Mokuba continued speaking in German.

Leonhart delighted just a small bit when it made some of the younger office women giggle. "Sounds fun." Maybe he could fit in here after all.

"We can talk about the new plans for the Virtual Reality RPG." All having to do with incorporating a big fairy tale plot line. It was what Leonhart was known for, after all. Mokuba was quite sure making the hire was the best choice.

As he sat down at his desk he couldn't help but smile. Maybe he'd always looked up to the younger Kaiba brother in this way. Similar but so very different. He wanted to be more like Mokuba. Even if getting to know him more meant getting away from his own brother. Just for a little while. "Thank you. For everything."

Mokuba grinned with a wave before disappearing down the hall, shooting looks at all the ladies as he went. Leonhart found himself staring after him. How had Mokuba grown up to be so… amazing?


End file.
